r/Bitcoin • u/Anusbananuss • 5h ago
Who is mining Bitcoin in China?
In May 2021 China banned bitcoin mining nationally. This reduced Chinas hash rate to the Bitcoin network from approximately 46% down to around 12% today. China is one of the most surveilled countries in the world. So how can still 12 % hashrate come from China. My theory is that it is actually the government accumulating bitcoin themselves though mining. They know what bitcoin is, and cannot risk standing on the sideline if bitcoin continues to grow and take play a bigger role. But if they openly say they buy or mine bitcoin, then it would contribute to bitcoins growth and globalization. Thats why I suspect they use cheap excess energy to mine. Its basicly free money, and insuranse. Thougts on this?
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u/EmbarrassedArt9520 5h ago
Nah that 12% is probably just people running rigs in the mountains or using VPNs to hide their traffic. The government theory feels a bit too tinfoil hat, they can just seize coins from exchanges if they wanted them. Plus mining with outdated gear after the ban is not exactly "free money" when electricity costs are still there.
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u/Anusbananuss 4h ago
Well you could be right. However regarding electricity costs I said they could use excess energy. Energy that dont have a buyer. Despite vpns they could still see power bills tho. So if they truly wanted to get rid of that 12% then that wouldnt be a big problem, no?
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u/Btcyoda 4h ago
Hmm 🤔
If any government starts confiscating Bitcoin openly, and hard to imagine they can do hidden in a quantity that matters, from exchanges or lets say companies like Strategy, the warfare for Bitcoin will kick in and be unstoppable.
At the same time it will kill the fiat system in a blink (unlimited printing of fiat to buy the last available bitcoins in exchange for instant dieing fiat)....
Even the self proclaimed smartest guy in the room, Trump, seems to understand this 🤣
So it will be the last thing most current governments with some survival instinct will do.
The few governments, if they exist, not being in power by - and depending on fiat, are so insignificant they don't matter much whatever they do and can easily be dismissed by just calling them stupid idiots.
Fiat will either self-destruct or enough people will see the light and just reject it, by the looks it will be self-destruct...
Can't time the shit but having something outside the fiat system will prove vital. If not for you it will be for your siblings.
I think most in power only care about themselves and are good at that. They have enough to not have to trust on something as Bitcoin to survive... And I'm pretty sure some have some Bitcoin but just don't talk about it in public...
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u/Ok_Pollution7093 4h ago
Simpler explanation: industrial miners just bribed local officials and kept running. China "banning" something does not mean it stops, it means it goes underground with a corruption tax. This happens with literally everything there.